I recently read a short mention of a French soup/sauce called "Soubise". (I read it in the article in the N.Y. Times, with the C&Z bit) But it was just a mention, and the author said he added crab and a whiff of absinthe, to the traditional onion and rice puree. In searching the internet, and my cookbooks, I found way too many variations, most without any mention of rice. Does anyone know the origin? A good recipe? Is it a soup or a sauce? Classically, what does it accompany? Thank you!

Alisa,
I saw that mention of soubise as well, and the man quoted is from New Orleans, so I suspect the original French concept has been Creole-ified. I'll be there in December and may have a chance to find out.

Shelli, thanks for the tip, I found that, and others too! And my two volume set of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, has two different recipes. Usually I can find the origin and much more of, like everything, on the internet. But not this. Hmmmmm Perhaps your trip to New Orleans will reveal some info.

The Minimalist column by Mark Bittman in today's NY Times has a recipe for "Rice cooked in Onions" that he says is based on a Julia Child recipe for soubise, which he says is a broader term used for an onion-based sauce. Here's the link. I think you have to register.

Shelli, just read, and printed the article and recipe. I am thinking that if I delete the saffron, and add a dash of Absinthe, that should duplicate the idea of the original article. Thank you so, so much for helping me with this!

My mom used to make a "gratinée soubise" in which rice was substituted with sliced potatoes: she lined a dish with slices of (already cooked) potatoes. She covered them with a generous quantity of "béchamelle" sauce mixed with onions (chopped and cooked in butter) then she spread some grated cheese and put the whole thing under the oven grill until golden. It's very simple and revigorating...

I recently made a sauce soubise to go with a highly traditional English roast chicken. The recipe came from Meilleur du Chef, and it was basically a white sauce with blanched/butter-sweated minced onions that had been pushed through a chinois and finished with a bit of creme fraiche, nutmeg & seasoning. Because I was being English, I didn't bother with the chinois, so my soubise was a bit...er, "rustic."

Onion sauce, as it's called in the UK, is as trad with roast chicken as the very similar bread sauce. The only problem is it makes rather a lot. Now I need to find more soubise recipes to use it up...

How enlightening! Culturally I guess English was the greatest influence while growing up (emigre grandparents living near by) and Grandma was quite the traditional lady-----but I am unfamiliar with either of your two sauces to accompany chicken Julianne. In particular what is a "bread sauce"?_________________Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

Hi David. Bread sauce is quite old fashioned in Canada (I'm Canadian, but I've been living in London for nearly 10 years), but still fairly popular in the UK. It's a milk/cream based sauce thickened with fresh breadcrumbs. You infuse full fat milk with a clove-studded onion and bay leaf, then add the breadcrumbs and a bit of nutmeg plus seasoning. It makes for a very mild, very thick sauce.

The onion sauce is very similar, but I prefer the texture from the white sauce (bits of onion and all) and I think the flavour is better developed. It's a good contrast to the usual jus, too.